Niners by the Numbers

by smileyman on Jun 8, 2010 11:00 AM PDT in 49ers By The Numbers

I'm shamelessly stealing this idea from fellow SB Nation bloggers Bolts From the Blue. They have a rarely updated front page section titled "Chargers by the (Jersey) Numbers". I liked the idea a lot. Here's how it'll work: Thanks to Fooch, I have a list of every single player to wear a 49ers uniform during the regular season (1094 of them), with the jersey number, school, position and the years that they played for the 49ers.

I'll be doing a brief profile on each player that wore the number and then choosing the best. Somewhat like "Who's Line Is It Anyway?", the award really means nothing, since the winner will simply be chosen through my own personal biases.

Join me after the jump as we profile players who wore the jersey numbers 1-3.

Player	Position	College	Years Played	Jersey Number
Anderson, Gary	K	Syracuse	1997	1
Smith, Noland	RB	Tennessee State	1969	1
Howard, Eddie	p	Idaho	1998	2
Mojsiejenk, Ralf	P	MIchigan State	1991	2
Palmer, Jesse	QB	Florida	2005	2
Schmitt, Ricky	k	Shepherd	2009	2
Chandler, Jeff	K	Florida	2002-2003	3
Miller, Jim	P	Mississippi	1980-1982	3
Mirer, Rick	QB	Notre Dame	2000-2001	3
Orosz, Tom	P	Ohio State	1983	3
Thompson, Tommy	P	Oregon	1995-1998	3

As you'd expect these early rounds are going to be dominated by kickers and punters, and we have a bevy of both. Gary Anderson and Jeff Chandler both had very long NFL careers, but not with us. Ralf Mojslejenk deserves mention soley based on his name. Tommy Thompson seems to me to be a very British name.

In the end I have to give the award for number 1 to Gary Anderson. He had a 23 year career and was still kicking 45 and 50 yard field goals at the end of it. That's impressive. Ralf Mojsiejenk wins the battle for number 2 based solely on his name, and the battle for number 3 goes to Tommy Thompson, also based on his name.

Here are your winners:

Number 1--Gary Anderson. Eat your heart out Brett Favre.

Number 2--Ralf Mojsiejenk. T.J. Houshmandzadeh ain't got nothing on me

Number 3--Tommy Thompson. No, I'm not a headless Thompson gunner.

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Comments

I loved ...

… who’s line is it anyway …!!

Kewl

by Edggy on Jun 8, 2010 12:53 PM PDT reply actions

We're sick! But ...

When it gets to the point that we argue about who was the best player to wear a given jersey number, we’re all sick! The off-season is obviously tooooooo long! But, as long as you asked, I recall Jim Miller being a much better punter than Tommy Thompson, so I would vote for Miller as the “best #3”. Parenthetically, Mirer and Chandler were two of the biggest busts (with every team they played for) ever. Ah, maybe Jarrett Brown should consider changing his number!

As for the #2, I would vote for Jesse Palmer — at least he was a position player, not “just” a kicker.

Re: #1, you’re all too young to remember Nolan Smith; he was a pint-sized KR/PR for Kansas City in the late 60’s and was very good at it until he took a few too many hits. LeRoy Vann reminds me a lot of Smith, but, believe it or not, he’s bigger; I think that Smith hit the field at about 5’6" and 170 pounds. Gary Anderson still gets my vote for the “best #1”.

by 49erFanSince1950 on Jun 8, 2010 12:56 PM PDT reply actions

Numbers

1. Gary Anderson. No brainer.

2. Jessie Palmer. He looked good. So good, he’s taken them to television. But he couldn’t play. What I woudda done for that free check.

3. Tommy Thompson. How sad. Rick Mirer couldn’t beat out a punter. Makes you realize that this number is a significant underachiever waiting for a fotball player to use it.

CMase3

by CMASE3 on Jun 8, 2010 5:51 PM PDT reply actions